Redemption
by MrDrP
Summary: Bonnie receives a most unexpected visitor ...


I.

Bonnie Rockwaller sat quietly, staring into her drink as the ice cubes slowly melted, oblivious to her surroundings. Her life had been going downhill for years, ever since she and Junior learned that shallowness and self-absorption were insufficient basis for a marriage. Now twenty-five years old, divorced, and alone, she was also quite drunk, a state in which she found herself more often than not.

With an unsteady hand, the one-time cheerleader and Middleton High queen bee lifted the glass to her lips and threw back her drink, enjoying the familiar fiery sensation of the whiskey as it traveled down her gullet. Her glass now empty, she reached for the bottle to pour herself another shot.

Bonnie was caught by surprise when Kim Possible Stoppable grabbed her wrist. "I so don't think so," her one-time classmate said, leading the inebriated brunette to do the only thing any reasonable person would do in that situation: scream.

After all, Kim had been dead for more than a year.

II.

"You can't be here," Bonnie finally stammered. "It's not possible."

Kim sighed. "Have you forgotten the motto?"

"Don't get all high horse on me, K," Bonnie snapped, trying desperately to submerge her fear beneath a veneer of false bravado. "You know what I mean."

"Okay," Kim said, holding up her palms in a gesture of conciliation. "I'll admit, this is probably so the drama for you."

"Gee, you think?" Bonnie replied. "Now would you mind telling me why you're haunting me?"

Kim snorted.

"What?"

"I am so not haunting you," Kim said, unable to hide her exasperation.

"Uh, excuse me, K, but I know you're dead and you're wearing a sheet."

Kim smirked. "For your information, B, it's not a sheet. It's a robe …"

Bonnie fought through her alcohol-induced fog and realized Kim was indeed wearing a robe. The garment was simple, cinched at the waist with a golden cord, and blindingly white.

"… And," Kim added, "Ghosts don't have these."

Bonnie's eyes opened wide as a pair of majestic wings unfurled from her visitor's back.

"Oh my …," Bonnie sputtered. "You're an angel."

Kim nodded. "Yes, I am."

"I thought angels were supposed to be cute and sweet and cuddly and …"

"You're thinking of cherubs and putti," Kim said.

"But you're, like, scary! Angels aren't supposed to be scary."

"Take a look at your Bible and you'll see we're actually a pretty tough bunch," Kim said.

"Ugh. I can't believe this is happening," Bonnie said as she once again reached for the bottle, ignoring Kim's withering gaze. "Don't look at me that way," the brunette said. "I'm majorly freaked right now and it's all your fault. I need this."

"Oh, so if I weren't here, you wouldn't be drinking?" Kim asked.

Bonnie stared daggers at her visitor, put the bottle down, and crossed her arms. "Fine," she said. "Now would you mind telling me why you're here?"

"Ron," Kim said simply.

Bonnie sneered. "Like I care about that loser?"

She immediately regretted her remark.

Kim's large green eyes flashed and her auburn mane, which was transformed into an ethereal combination of hair and flame, billowed about her while her body radiated a brilliant aura that suffused the room with a harsh, overwhelming light.

"Okay, okay, he's not a loser!" Bonnie yelped.

Kim immediately settled down. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.

"Apology accepted," Bonnie whispered.

"Thanks," Kim said contritely. "I'm really not supposed to do that unless I'm fighting powers and principalities." Then, much to Bonnie's surprise, her visitor's shoulders slumped. In all the years she'd known Kim, she'd never seen her look so defeated or broken.

"Okay, K, what's going on?" Bonnie demanded, overwhelmed by curiosity and, as much as she hated to admit it, sympathy. "If something's wrong with Ron, why are you here and not with him?"

Kim gazed at her. "I'm not allowed to see him," she said sorrowfully.

"Why not?"

"Michael said—"

"Michael? Don't tell me you've got some kind of angel BF?"

Kim groaned. "Bonnie, Michael's an Archangel. He's, well, I guess you could say he's my boss."

"You have a boss?" Bonnie said incredulously. "There's actually a place where Kim Possible isn't in charge? I'd have thought you'd have hogged the top of the angel pyramid."

"Bonnie, please," Kim said.

"Okay," Bonnie said as she saw the pained expression on Kim's face. "Go on."

"Michael said that if I make contact with Ron he'd never get on with his life." Kim looked away for a moment and bit her lip. When she looked back at Bonnie, her eyes were brimming with tears. "It so hurts, but he's right."

"So what do you expect me to do?" she asked with unintended petulance. "Bring him a message from you to move on?"

Kim shook her head. "No," she said. She squared her shoulders, then looked around the room as if searching for something. Then she locked eyes with Bonnie. "Are you happy with your life?"

"Excuse me?" Bonnie asked.

"I asked, 'Are you happy with your life?'"

"Sure. It's fine," she said unconvincingly.

"Really?" Kim said as she picked up the whiskey. Much to Bonnie's surprise, Kim lifted it to her lips and drained the bottle. Then she made a face. "You really like drinking this day after day?"

"Okay, fine, maybe my life's not perfect," Bonnie admitted. "But I'm not ready to die!"

Kim looked at her quizzically. "What are you talking about?"

"Isn't this when you take me away?" Bonnie asked.

"No. That's the Angel of Death's job," Kim replied. "Trust me. You'll know him when you meet him," she said, suppressing a shudder. "Besides, I already told you I was here because of Ron."

Bonnie slumped down and rubbed her temples. "This is so weird," she muttered.

Kim knelt before Bonnie and took her hands in hers, startling her old rival. "He's lost, B, and he's suffering," she said with pained urgency. "Because, because …"

"Because of you," Bonnie said. She knew about the rescue mission on K2 that had gone awry, costing Kim her life and Ron his legs.

"Yes," Kim agreed. "He tried to save me, even though he was hurt. And still I died. If I could do it all over again …"

"You'd do the same thing," Bonnie said. When Kim appeared ready to disagree, she cut her off. "Don't kid yourself, K. It's what you did, or do, or whatever. And you know that Stoppable wouldn't have had it any other way."

"No, he wouldn't," Kim conceded.

"So, what is it you want me to do?" Bonnie asked.

Kim took a deep breath, as if girding herself to do something very difficult. "He's a good man, Bonnie. I, I, I want you to consider, well, consider going out with him."

"Excuse me?" Bonnie asked, unable to hide her shock.

"He needs someone to love. Someone who's alive," Kim explained. "And you need someone to love you."

"Wait a minute," Bonnie said. "You'd be willing to have him love someone other than you?"

Kim nodded. "I want him to be happy. He can't as long as he's trapped in the past."

"I don't know, K. This is like so—"

"Bonnie, as much as I hate to admit this," Kim interjected, "you two actually looked good together."

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie said, stunned by Kim's statement.

"Senior Year? Homecoming?" Kim said. "The pictures of you and Ron in the paper and yearbook?"

"Well, I always did photograph well," Bonnie said smugly.

Kim allowed herself a bemused smile. "I'll give you that. And you are beautiful."

"You really think so?" Bonnie asked. She hadn't felt beautiful in a long time.

"Yes, I do. And it's time you start doing something useful with your looks other than drink them away."

"Like share them with Stoppable?"

"You couldn't do much better," Kim said. "In fact, I'll tell you a little secret. You remember that kiss you gave him at J P Bearymore's?"

Bonnie gulped, fearful that Angry Archangel Kim, recalling a heated moment from their shared past, might return. She nodded meekly.

"He didn't kiss you back," Kim stated flatly.

Bonnie shook her head.

"Well, you so don't know what kissing is until Ron has kissed you."

"Really?"

"Really," Kim said.

"Look, I know you love him," Bonnie said. "But he's, he's …"

"Ron?" Kim said. "I'll be the first to admit he's weird, but he's also amazing. For starters, he's a great friend, a wonderful lover, an incredible cook, and surprisingly athletic."

Bonnie thought about what Kim was saying. Finally, she asked a question. "Why me?"

"Because, I help people. And you, like Ron, need help."

"Maybe I do," Bonnie conceded. "So, like, if Ron and I get together, what happens when we die? Do I get to keep him or do you get him back?"

Kim shrugged. "I don't know. That will be his choice."

Bonnie looked at her visitor, thought of the bond Kim shared with Ron, and suspected that she already knew the answer to her own question. Still …

"Is it true he used to use coupon books on your dates?" she asked.

Kim cocked an eyebrow, then laughed. "Yes," she said. "Kids eat free," she said with a roll of the eyes. "But he stopped. That's another thing I love about Ron: he can be ferociously oblivious, but he always learns."

"Good," Bonnie said. "I have an image to maintain."

"So you'll call him?" Kim asked hopefully.

"Why not?" Bonnie said with a shrug and a yawn. "It's not like I have anything to lose."

"Spankin'," Kim said as Bonnie, finally succumbing to the alcohol, fell asleep. "Good luck, B." And with that, Kim finished her mission and vanished, leaving Bonnie alone.

III.

"Ugh," Bonnie groaned as she awoke, her head throbbing, her mouth parched, and her stomach unsettled.

She got up and stumbled to the bathroom where she rinsed her mouth, brushed her teeth, and downed some antacid, then returned to the living room, where she dropped onto the couch. Her gaze fell on the coffee table. She saw the empty whiskey bottle, then the glass, and then, much to her surprise since she was sure it had been packed away in a box, her high school yearbook, which was open to the portrait of Ron and her that had been taken at the Homecoming Dance their senior year.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "It wasn't a dream. She was really here," she added wrapping her arms around herself, unable to take her eyes off the picture.

She looked at the image for a long time before she reached for the phone and called directory assistance. She asked for Ron's telephone number, which she jotted down on a slip of paper and then set down. Then she picked up the yearbook and flipped to the page with Kim's picture.

Bonnie looked at the smiling photo of her dead classmate and thought of her visit and what Kim had said and done. Then she gently put down the book, picked up the phone, and dialed Ron's number.

* * *

KP & Co. © Disney

Thanks to campy for proofreading this story.

Leave a review and I'll send you a reply.

Looking for something good to read? Check out Ron Heartbreaker's _Diplomacy in Action._


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